


Coffee Cups

by imfallingforyoureyes102



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Barista Tris, Businessman Tobias, Christmas Fluff, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jokes, Love/Hate, Med Student Tris, Name-Calling, Thanksgiving, Tobias Eaton Needs a Hug, coffee cups
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 14:43:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11625735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imfallingforyoureyes102/pseuds/imfallingforyoureyes102
Summary: Tobias never thought he had a type - and he didn't. He didn't prefer blonde hair over red, he didn't like petite over average, and he certainly could care less in terms of eyes. But he liked her blonde hair, and her small frame, and he definitely had a thing for the way her blue eyes flashed grey every time he approached her. Yeah, he didn't have a type, but he definitely had a crush.





	Coffee Cups

He never thought he had a type – and he didn't. He didn't prefer blonde hair over red hair, he didn't like petite over average, hell, he had no intention whatsoever to scout out every blue eyed girl in the country over the others.

But he liked  _her_  blonde hair, and  _her_  small frame, and he definitely had a thing for the way her blue eyes flashed grey every time he approached her at the cash register, rattling off a load of nonsense to whomever was on the phone with him this time, paying little to no attention to the way she would throw him a glare as he ordered and paid without a breath in between.

Yeah, he didn't have a type, but he definitely had a crush.

And it's silly, he thinks, to have something as juvenile as a crush on a girl who could care less about him, but it's still something he can't help every day, when he sees the top of her uniform cap moving around the counter.

He can't help but avoid her glance every time she takes his order – can't help the way he talks in short, clipped sentences and waves off her recited offer of a "would you like a scone with that?" It's enough to agitate anyone, but the girl – Tris, he learns from the small nametag – takes it in stride without even batting an eyelash.

She can't help scowling a little every time she sees the top of his dark hair and brooding face standing amidst the crowed of the morning workers in need of their coffee. It's a bit unfair, she thinks, that he can see so easily over the tops of everyone's head while she could stand on a stool and still have luck worth shit. She knows she shouldn't be so agitated over his lack of conversational skills – nearly everyone in the damn café couldn't spend two seconds off the phone let alone give her a friendly hello. Something about him though – maybe the sharp jawline or the eyes she couldn't quite place between blue or black – screams confidence and arrogance – the kind of confidence she stayed away from in high school because it was followed along by snarky popularity and hatred filled comments. It's not that she knows he's a jerk, she just thinks he is, and she makes it known every time she writes a different name on his cup everyday just to spite him. She doesn't think he ever notices though, but she continues to do so nonetheless.

He notices. He always does. And despite whatever feeling Tris wants him to feel when he sees the messy "Douchedick" or "Crumbum" scrawled across the cup, he only feels a smile flash across face when he takes a sip under the summer sun.

As much as he hates his job – as much as he hates the fact that he works under his emotionally and physically abusive father – he can't help but smile every time he walks into his office, because what greets him there is always much more pleasant that what lies behind Marcus Eaton's door. Tobias knows that Zeke thinks he's crazy to keep every coffee cup that Tris has written on set up along the shelves of his office like trophies, but he does it anyway because the amount of wit in each insulting name has only grown in intensity, and it make Tobias somewhat proud.

He never talks to her – he doesn't have the nerve – but eventually the rude business calls he uses as an excuse not to talk to her are held until after their encounters, and he sure as hell loves the blush that creeps across her cheeks the first time she realizes he's actually paying attention to her writing on the cup. She bites her lip then, slowly and casually setting the cup down and reaching for another.

"Keep it. It fits."

It's the first words Tobias ever really speaks to her, besides his normal order, and though she knew his voice was deep, she can't help shivering when she hears it. She stares hesitantly between him and the cup with the elegant "NAME" scrawled across it and Tobias holds back a smile – a real one – as she hands him the drink.

"It's Tobias, by the way. For next time."

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

The cups aren't quite that interesting after that – and Tobias is a little relieved. He had no clue where he would start placing the cups after the last shelf was filled and didn't have it in him to throw any away just yet.

Tobias is still too much of a coward to talk up a storm with her, but it's enough of a change to actually know his name that makes Tris a little warmer towards him. Yeah, she still thinks he's a little too full of himself, but the banter that the two pick up in replacement of the cups is enough to quell the animosity.

He thinks it's fair to call her names now that she's had her fill. She thinks it's unfair that he uses her height as a basis for all of his jokes.

He always likes to tell her how much his day improves just seeing her face even if he has to stoop down three feet to find it – how much her "beautiful frown" is brighter than the sun. She can't wipe the frown off of her face when he doesn't show up one day.

She knows it's ridiculous – he's just a customer and she's a sleep deprived college student looking to make a few extra bucks with this barista job. But it still stings a bit to think about him flirting with another girl in some other coffee shop a few doors down.

By the third day, Tris is pissed – both at herself for thinking he could be something to her and at  _him_  (and yes, he had fallen back down the ladder to insults again) – too pissed to see that he's standing in front of her again, but in a hoodie and sweats and a whole lot of black and blue on his face.

She's surprised when she hears him, and even more so when she sees him, and soon enough hot coffee is on the both of them and Tobias can't help but crack a smile even though the movements in his face stings at his eyes.

She's too shocked to say anything and her eyes are wide and grey as they stare at him. And, because he often connects quietness with anger due to his malicious upbringing, his smile falters as he begins to mutter apology after apology. It's Tobias's move to leave that pulls Tris out of her frozen state, and because Tobias is so wrapped up in thought about how much his own father has fucked up his life he doesn't realize it's a small and delicate hand reaching for him rather than a tough one gripping a belt and the small flinch that overcomes him makes Tris's heart crack right down the middle.

It should be awkward because they really don't know each other  _that_  well and the only conversations they'd ever really exchanged were sarcastic and witty ones – the kind that skip over the dark sides of anything. But that doesn't stop Tris from taking her break a full three hours early and pulling Tobias into a quiet booth – doesn't stop her from placing a fresh, hot cup of coffee in front of him with the words "Punching Bag" written lightly across the front.

It's then the two really start to talk – then when Tobias finally admits, at least to himself, that this thing he feels for her is far more than a crush. It's also then when Tris realizes that  _she'd_  been the jerk the whole time.

They talk for a good two hours, and Tris would have been fired if it weren't for her friend Christina who somehow had managed to keep the entire shop at bay while still flashing thumbs up over at Tris every ten minutes or so.

He learns that she's studying medicine (perfect, really, that she works it a coffee shop seeing as she needs the caffeine to stay awake) and that she has a thing for birds and ferris wheels. She learns that he hates heights and small spaces, and nearly got a tattoo of a piece of chocolate cake when he was drunk before his friend stepped in.

She realizes his eyes are actually blue – so blue they look almost black. He realizes her hair isn't actually all that blonde, but a mixture of it and brown, and that her small stature is deceiving of her strength. He likes her eyes the most, but can't help from glancing down at her lips every couple of seconds because the way they get all red when she bites them is enough to drive any sane person wild.

Tris smirks a little when she realizes this – her mouth widening in a smile when she sees that he has begun mimicking her; his bottom lip is trapped between his teeth and she finally understands why people think the act is so endearing.

Tobias skips over the reason as to why his face is filled with bruises and scratches. Tris respects that, but her insides twist with anger whenever his fingers reach up to brush at one of them. Tris talks about her brother and his inabilities to do anything athletic; Tobias talks about his mother – about how she used to bake cookies and do arts and crafts with him even when he knew she wasn't up for it.

They both stop talking then – coffee cups empty – as Tobias realizes what he has said and Tris recognizes the abuse he had accidently implied. That doesn't stop her from slipping her phone number across the table to him as she gets up to go back to work, or him from calling her one night when he finds a bird nest outside his window and can't help but think of her.

She's there faster than she would like to admit, and it's a beaming Tobias that answers the door. The bruises are gone, but it's still an untouched topic that's been lingering around them for some time. But after a few drinks and watching the bird's nest, it's Tobias and Tris sat on the couch in the abnormally clean and organized room in a tangle of limbs as Tris tries to wrestle the remote out of Tobias's hands – apparently having to watch another episode of "Untold Stories of the E.R." was "not at all beneficial to my studies, Tobias, thank you very much."

Tris doesn't understand how she ends up on his lap, nor how the remote ends up on the floor. Tobias does, but he's not exactly one to complain about the glorious things in life, and he holds her gently as her giggling subsides and she tries to look anywhere but him. He, above anyone, understands the need for boundaries and sits quiet and still, letting Tris make all the choices.

Her eyes reach his, and all she can see is her reflection in his now black eyes – her eyes are pure grey, and Tobias thinks he can just stare at them all day and just be fine with that.

But when her lips meet his, soft and tentative, it's all he can do to not pull her face tight to his. And he's glad he doesn't, because within seconds it's her delicate hands curling around his neck and into his hair and his own running up and down her back and brushing against her jaw. He's just as new at this as she is, but Tris doesn't know that, and something along the feelings of inadequacy causes her to break the kiss. She's panting hard and he's still got his eyes closed and all she can see are his slightly swollen lips and the flush now running up his cheeks and she can't help but smile a little to herself when he lets out a small groan in protest. Her thumb runs against his lips as a small "I've never done that before" leaves her lips and her eyes widen as she realizes how pathetic she probably sounds. Tobias's eyes flash open as he feels her head drop into his chest and he has to pry her face back up to meet his. His soft "This is all new to me too," is said with a small laugh and even though Tris is certain that someone as good looking as him hasn't had his fair share of one-night stands, something about the way his hands stay gentle on her hips and the way he doesn't look anywhere but her eyes makes her believe that he's only had a few kisses here and there too.

They don't do anything but kiss until Tobias has to physically remove Tris from his lap because of certain matters and Tris laughingly suggests a walk for him to "cool off." It takes them both a few seconds to find something fit to wear for the night because where Tris first arrived with only a chilly wind biting at her back, the first snow of the year was just starting in Chicago.

Tobias thinks Tris looks ravishing in his old sweatshirt from college – he knows it's primal and caveman-y to think his name plastered on Tris's back is so attractive but, then again, he never got to experience this in high school or college and he definitely wasn't going to give up the chance now.

They walk past the coffee shop – it's closed now – and Tris pulls him by the arm and asks him where he works. There's a small falter of a smile before Tobias points shyly ahead up the avenue and straight at the gigantic building towering over the rest of the buildings, the name "Eaton Enterprises" set boldly into the stone. Tris stops walking instantly as she connects the Eaton on the building and the Eaton grasping her hand with each other and finally –  _finally_  all the pompous calls and mutterings about this and that in the coffee line all make sense now.

And, since his name is plastered on the building, Tris thinks it's a reasonable request to see exactly where he works. After all, he must have the key to his own kingdom.

Tobias doesn't have the heart to tell her that it isn't exactly  _his_  kingdom and that he actually hates it there because of his father, so they start walking through the already building snow towards the place he has come to resent.

It isn't until he's turning the doorknob to his office that he remembers his little hoarding problem, but it's already a little too late because the key fit and the door had unlocked. He tries to stall Tris, asking her if she wants any coffee or orange juice – "I'm sure there's some cake in the kitchen," – but Tris just rolls her eyes and strolls right past him as Tobias stands stone still and waits for a reaction.

He doesn't hear one, and he's a bit worried when he walks in. The worry leaves him though, almost instantly, when he finds Tris on the ground shaking so hard with laughter that he is actually concerned about her hitting her head. She doesn't talk for a couple of minutes – can't really, through the snorts and giggles – and when she finally does her face is flushed with laughter and Tobias's with embarrassment.

It fades to a slight fondness, though, as Tris goes around the room, reading each cup.

"I remember this one," she says staring at Tobias's favorite and most obscene cup. "You were being a right dick that day."

"I was on the phone," Tobias tries to counter, but he remembers specifically that he had been trying to spite her, talking about how slow the service was and how disgusting the coffee usually tasted and asking the person on the phone (there really never was one that day) why he even kept going there.

"I was trying to hint that I only came there for you," he laughs at her scowl.

"Yeah, you were great at showing it."

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

It's almost Thanksgiving when Tobias enters the coffee shop for his usual fix and sees Christina behind the counter. He's about to cut everyone in line just to find out where Tris was – she was always there – when he feels someone knock into his side.

It's Tris, and she's mumbling apologies over and over before she realizes it's him and Tobias frowns at the way her eyes and nose are red and the way her voice sounds raspy. He doesn't hesitate in pulling her into a hug after his "what's wrong" causes Tris's eyes to water up again – doesn't hesitate in pulling her over to the same quiet booth like she once did with him and grabbing a cup of coffee from Christina. He places it down in front of her gently, and she snorts when she sees the words "Cry Baby" scrawled across the front.

It's then he learns about the dick in Tris's classes – Peter.

It's also then that he realizes he loves her – right there, in the little booth by the window, with her red, splotchy face and red rimmed eyes.

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

He doesn't tell her, though, can't really. It's always on the tip of his tongue and every time he's about to say it, all he can think about are all the pathetic and useless names his father used to call him as a child.

Tris falls in love with him a few weeks before Christmas as they walk past the park. A small soccer ball had made its way into their path and somehow the two of them had found themselves wrapped up in a soccer match with a bunch of eight year olds. It's when one of the boys falls down and scrapes his knee that Tris knows it, because the way Tobias scoops him up and makes him laugh and laugh and laugh before his mother cleans him up shows just how selfless and kind he was, even when he didn't think so himself.

Unlike Tobias, she's always had a better way with words, and when he walks into the coffee shop Monday morning, he's almost too happy that Tris had greeted him at the door to look down at the cup she was pressing into his hands. The way she kept biting her lips and glancing down at it, though, made Tobias do the same, and the words scrawled across the side were by far the best she had ever come up with.

"I love you."

Within seconds, he can feel his heart slamming in his chest, and he knows he must really look pathetic with his wet eyes and choked up voice as he tells her he loves her too, but the last time someone had told him that they loved him – that he was loved – was when he was six years old and helping his mother wrap up her bruises and cuts.

Tobias doesn't go into work that day – the last thing he wants is to see his father – and he sits around in the small café until Tris finishes her shift. She has twenty minutes before class, but neither could care less and they spent the twenty minutes walking around in the on and off snow, pointing out the few birds that had decided to stick it out for the winter.

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

By the time Tris's exams rolls around in the spring – her graduation looming around the corner – Tobias has spent more hours cooped up in the office and Tris has quit her job in the coffee shop. She needed more time to study, and he needed more time in the office to pacify his father, and by the time either got to see each other at the end of the day, both were so exhausted all they could do was fall asleep tangled up in each other's arms.

It's for that reason that they are a bit confused when they both get home at a sane hour – Tris from the library, Tobias from the office – and both a bit at a loss at what to do with their free time. It's a split second of confusion, though, because in the next second Tris is pressed up against the wall with Tobias's hands gripping at her hips and for a few minutes neither of them dares to breathe as he kisses every inch of skin he can reach. They've done enough of this to know when to stop before it goes too far, but for some reason Tris can't stop grabbing at Tobias's hair and doesn't protest one bit when he picks her up and presses her further into the wall, her legs wrapping around his strong torso. And Tobias can't help but groan – when she whimpers like that – as he rolls his hips against hers. He can't help but feel a bit lightheaded when she grabs at his belt buckle and looks up at him through her eyelashes.

He carries her, then, to his room – their room, really. Tobias doesn't know the last time she'd been in her dorm, and he could care less because right now, all he could think about was the girl beneath him. He continues to kiss her – hesitantly now, because they have never gone this far – and she encourages him along with every small whimper and breathless whisper.

He stops when he reaches her face, and her eyes flash open. She's always been self-conscious about her body – about her chest and her size – but where she's always seen imperfection, he's seen beauty beyond anything.

Tobias is panting and Tris's chest is heaving, and when her fingers claw at his belt buckle once again he doesn't ignore it.

"Tris, are you sure - ,"

He laughs as his question is cut off by Tris's lips.

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

Tobias's hands can't stop shaking, and he's a little worried at the fact that  _he_  was more panicked than Tris at her own graduation. She thinks it's funny, that he can't stop fidgeting. He thinks she has the easy part in the day's activities – he was the one who had to meet her parents.

True to Tris's word, they arrive a bit late – late enough, in fact, for Tris to already be seated and for him to have to meet them alone. He would berate Tris for this, but for some odd reason, he has a feeling that she did this on purpose – probably to get back at him for all the comments about her height he had first made.

He speaks to her father first, and because he's always had a problem with male authority figures, he doesn't know whether he's doing anything right. His father had always taught him to look people in the eyes and speak with confidence to them. He had also taught Tobias that that same confidence was what would get him a belt lashing and a couple days in the upstairs closet.

He figures that Tris had told her parents some of this, because her father approaches him kindly and her mother greets him with a hug. Her brother is a different story – he isn't quite sure what he thinks of him at first, but after spending the length of the graduation ceremony sitting next to him, Tobias decides that Caleb's extensive knowledge on the reasoning behind the design of the graduation attire wasn't all that bad.

All his nerves are gone, though, when he sees her striding across the stage, and he can't help the widest smile he's ever smiled that spreads across his face as he watches Tris accept her diploma – can't help calling out when everyone applauds. It's a good think he doesn't see Tris's parents watching their interaction with a similar smile, or he would have been redder than Tris when she found out Tobias had a thing for her.

After the ceremony, they all grab a cup of coffee – Tobias and Tris trying their best not to crack up when, for the first time in a long time, their actual names appeared on the cups.

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

It's Christmastime again, and Tobias finally gets to see where Tris grew up. He's never really talked about his home before willingly – the only time they ever really talk about it is when he wakes up in the middle of the night panting and sweating with flashes of his childhood playing back in his mind. Tris doesn't mind. She knows he'll tell her when he's ready. Tobias is grateful for that, because sometimes he doesn't think he'll ever be ready.

He's seated in the living room, and Tobias has a smile on his face as he watches Tris's little niece pin ornaments on the Christmas tree. His smile grows even wider when she – Becca – comes up to him and asks him to play. Tris is in the kitchen with her mother and Caleb's wife, Susan. Caleb had run to the store to grab some playing cards, and Tris's father was sat on the other couch watching the two race small cars up and down the floor.

It's only when Becca falls asleep halfway through one of their races that Tobias looks up and sees him watching them – only then when he realizes why he had been feeling so nervous in the first place.

He picks Tris's niece up and sets her on the couch, covering her with the nearest blanket before turning to Tris's father.

"Sir - ,"

"Andrew. I told you to call me Andrew, Tobias."

"Andrew, I, uh, I wanted to ask you something. Something important."

Tris walks in the room then, and Tobias almost swears in surprise because Tris has always had impeccable timing.

"Dinner's ready."

She stands there, smiling, waiting for the two men to get up, and Tobias knows it's a lost cause to try anything now.

Tris turns to leave, and Tobias watches Andrew scoop his granddaughter up.

"Tobias?"

"Hhmm."

"Yes. You have my permission. Yes."

**CCPAGEBREAKCCPAGEBREAK**

It takes a lot of convincing to get Tris to go on a walk after dinner – she's full, he's full, and the snow outside just wasn't as endearing as the fireplace in the living room. But when Tobias mentions coffee she throws out a "why the hell not," and they both find that their "walk" is actually a sprint to the café because of the blizzard like snow swirling around them.

Tobias keeps his left hand in his pocket, scared that if he didn't he'd ruin everything, and Tris is almost bouncing up and down in excitement when she realizes that they had peppermint flavored everything. They grab a drink for everyone because, as Tris had so eloquently repeated, "why the hell not," and the walk back is much easier now that the snowflakes had reduced quite considerably from the ping pong sized balls to small wisps.

They're soon all seated in the living room watching a Christmas movie– Caleb, Susan, and Becca taking up one couch, Tris's parents on the other. Tobias doesn't mind that they've been given the floor, because here he has enough room to pull Tris close enough so that her back is against his chest as he sits propped against the couch.

His arms are encircled around her waist, his chin propped on her head, and he pays more attention to playing with her finger that he does the movie.

She's just finishing her coffee as she looks down, watching Tobias's fingers intertwine with hers. It must be the flicker from the screen, or the way the light shifts, because all of a sudden she's all too aware of what's written on her cup – all too aware of what his fingers are doing.

And, as much as she prides herself for being fairly composed, she can't help but start crying  _at_   _least a little._

Because, as she had twisted the cup to see the writing, Tobias had slipped a ring on her left hand.

"I know this is probably the most cliché way to do this," she could feel him whispering in her ear as she tried not to fully burst into tears. "But it was you who started it."

Tobias can't get out one-tenth of his speech before Tris is turned around and kissing him – probably way harder than she should have been with her parents right behind them. But he doesn't care, because all he can hear is her mumbled yes over and over again.

Everyone in the room had lost interest in the movie, and it wasn't until the two had stopped kissing that Tris picked up the empty coffee cup and brushed her thumb over the writing scrawled across it.

" _Marry me,"_ it said.

Tris reached across to the coffee table and snatched the pen on it before grabbing Tobias's own cup.

"I just figured that since I started it," Tris whispers into Tobias ear, "I should end it,"

Tobias can't help but let out a laugh as he glances down at the coffee cup.

" _Yes_."


End file.
